Olympians inspire at Wasilla clinic

WASILLA — The young gymnasts are focused, quiet and attentive as they stretch while following instructions from their coach. It’s a scene common at Denali Gymnastics and Fitness as boys and girls ranging in age from 5 to late teens work out and dream of future Olympic glory.

On Sunday, those dreams were fed with intense instruction from a trio of former Olympians. Former two-time U.S. Olympic Gymnastics Team coach Kevin Mazeika gives encouragement and guidance as he leads the first clinic — the gym’s boys squad — through warm-ups. And while most days it can be a struggle keeping the attention of a group of boys on a weekend afternoon, on this day there’s not peep from the athletes.

“That’s pretty amazing right there,” said John Litter, girls team director for Denali Fitness.

Along with Mazeika is Raj Bhavsar, a 2008 Olympian who won bronze as a member of the U.S. all-around team, and Stephen McCain, a 2000 and 2004 Olympic team member. Having world-class talent giving personal instruction to the young Alaska athletes is a rare opportunity, Litter said.

“They get to see the skills and coaching they want to achieve,” he said.

While the local team members usually respond well to their regular coaches, “when they hear it from a superstar, it’s a great thing,” Litter said. “They’re pretty excited. We’re all excited. It can really benefit everybody having them here. Coaches all have different skills and different approaches.”

For Bhavsar, working with young gymnasts is a way of giving back to the sport that has taken him all over the world — and, finally, to Alaska. This is his first trip to the Last Frontier, and he enjoyed fishing for king salmon earlier Sunday before the clinics.

In addition to being on the 2008 Olympic team, Bhavsar, whose specialty is the parallel bars and rings, has a move on the bars named for him — the Bhavsar. The move, he explained, is basically a reverse hect, which is a change in rotation with a straddle over the bars. He spent much of the afternoon session with the Denali boys working on the parallel bars.

Bhavsar said he hopes the local students will be inspired by working with Olympians.

“What I hope they definitely get from having us live in their gym (is) that their dreams are tangible,” he said, adding much work and sacrifice comes with achieving those dreams.

A good way to improve is to focus on doing one thing perfect, then move on to another skill, he said.

“Learn one thing to make a drastic change in your approach or (attitude),” Bhavsar said. “That’s why I’m so excited to be here.”

Like some of the younger gymnasts attending the clinic, Bhavsar, who is from Houston, began training at age 4.

“Actually, my parents saw me at 3 years old climbing everything that exists,” he said. “So, I started gymnastics by the time I was 4.”

McCain said gymnastics is a demanding sport that can require mastering varied skills. While most gymnasts now specialize in one or two skills, he preferred all-around competition.

“A lot of gymnasts specialize now, but I had a hard time giving that up,” he said. “Typically, gymnastics is just overall difficult. Every skill in gymnastics is like a golf swing — each have their own basic skills.”

Like Bhavsar, McCain said he hopes the Denali groups learn that hard work is necessary to achieve any goals. He hopes Sunday’s clinics “inspire kids to focus on how important the basics are.”

Contact Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.